1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to articles of insulated apparel and more particularly, to an insulated undergarment comprised of a body and appendages continuously and integrally formed of insulated, resilient fabric material and having segmentally arranged supplemental insulation for insulating less mobile regions of a user's body.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Numerous activities are performed during the cold winter season. Availability of specialized apparel to be worn while participating in certain of these activities is somewhat limited. Some measures have been taken to protect participants of certain activities from the cold ambient environment. One such measure includes controlling the environment in which the activity is being performed, for instance, enclosing a stadium to form a "dome" for insulating participants, such as football players, from the cold ambient environment. However, domes are very costly and time consuming to construct and therefore, fail to provide an instant solution to an immediate problem. Focusing on a solution to independently protect each participant from the cold certainly provides a more economical short term solution. Moreover, such a form of protection would be useful in activities, such as hunting and fishing, where providing an enclosure is impractical.
It is not uncommon for participants of winter activities performed in a cold ambient environment to wear several layers of clothing. Unfortunately, the layering of clothing is typically continuous over the more movable regions of the user's body, such as the shoulders, elbows, and wrists, greatly restricting the ability of the user to move freely. A single insulated undergarment having segmentally arranged supplemental insulation for insulating less mobile regions of a user's body economically protects each participant independently from other participants regardless of the environment in which the activity is performed.
Garments for protecting certain regions of a user's body are known. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 3,135,961, issued Jun. 9, 1964 to Marshall E. Roderick, discloses a shirt-like garment having a singular pad to protect the wearer's chest or abdomen. Another protective article of clothing is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,945,042, issued Mar. 23, 1976 to Alfred D. Lobo, which discloses a protective garment for skaters, and the like, comprising a fabric layer upon which a plurality of foamed plastic cylinders may be removably fixed. A cover is provided over the cylinders so that the garment has a conventional appearance when worn. U.S. Pat. No. 4,507,801, issued Apr. 2, 1985 to Frank J. Kavanagh et al., shows yet another protective garment having a plurality of pockets for receiving pads formed to fit the wearer. The pads protect the wearer's spine, shoulders, and ribs. Additionally, U.S. Pat. No. 4,870,706, issued Oct. 3, 1989 to Kenneth E. Ketcham et al., describes a shirt-like protective garment having air inflatable pads positioned in fabric compartments located adjacent the wearer's spine, shoulders, and ribs. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,007,108, issued Apr. 16, 1991 to Raymond Laberge et al., provides a chest protector having a plurality of overlapping padding sections capable of covering the entire arm. The wearer's torso is also shielded with protective padding in this formidable appearing piece of clothing.
The aforementioned patents disclose protective garments which are generally bulky and reduce the freedom of mobility of the user. Further, the protective garments disclosed provide protection against trauma. Unlike the aforementioned prior art, applicant's instant invention is a undergarment which protects the user from the cold ambient environment and which provides supplemental protection against the cold ambient environment for less mobile regions of the user's body.
None of the above patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.